UK - Nurse Lucy Letby Faces 22 Charges - 7 Murder/15 Attempted Murder of Babies #2

[Tortoise]

The HT has comments enabled on its live feed page. This seems a rather irresponsible course of action and very possibly a contempt of court!

I've never thought about this before, but I wonder how that works with reporters who Tweet from the court. Can they disable replies to their tweets?

 

[JuicyLucy]

Can anyone explain to me why the medical witnesses are to remain anonymous?

It seems unusual to me, but maybe that's because medical witnesses in murder trials tend to be expert witnesses rather than professionals who were actively involved in the alleged victim's care. The latter must happen a fair bit though. Is anonymity usual?

 

[MsBetsy]

If I'm understanding this correctly they allege she unsuccessfully attempted to murder one baby 6 times

That's how I interpreted the charges. They must have evidence that she used the same method several times for one baby. Imo

 

[Tortoise]

Now11:55

Court has now resumed​

After a break, court has now resumed.
The jury selection will shortly take place via a random ballot.
Once the jury has been allocated, the case will then begin.

https://news.sky.com/story/lucy-let...n-trial-12716378?postid=4631187#liveblog-body
Lucy Letby trial - live: Nurse accused of killing seven babies goes on trial

 

[Marantz4250b]

11:55

Court has now resumed​

After a break, court has now resumed.
The jury selection will shortly take place via a random ballot.
Once the jury has been allocated, the case will then begin.

I suspect that jury selection may take a while as lots of people won't be able to sit for six months. It may be that the prosecution doesn't open its case until tomorrow now?

 

[Tortoise]

Can anyone explain to me why the medical witnesses are to remain anonymous?

It seems unusual to me, but maybe that's because medical witnesses in murder trials tend to be expert witnesses rather than professionals who were actively involved in the alleged victim's care. The latter must happen a fair bit though. Is anonymity usual?

I can't find where it says that Lucy, where did you read it?

 

[JuicyLucy]

I can't find where it says that Lucy, where did you read it?

"The names of the children, their parents, witnesses connected to them, and eight medical witnesses cannot be reported - so all media will be referring to them as Children A to Q throughout the trial."

Lucy Letby trial - live: Nurse accused of killing seven babies goes on trial

 

[Marantz4250b]

I can't find where it says that Lucy, where did you read it?

I'd missed that post. I hadn't read anything to that effect either. Seems very strange if true.

 

[Tortoise]

12:03pm

Jury finalised​

The jury panel has now been finalised, with jury members to appear in court, identify themselves, and take their places in the jury box.
It is expected the prosecution will then formally begin the opening, Mark Dowling of our sister paper, the Chester Standard, reports.

Lucy Letby: prosecution opens in Hereford nurse murder trial

 

[Alyce]

Can anyone explain to me why the medical witnesses are to remain anonymous?

It seems unusual to me, but maybe that's because medical witnesses in murder trials tend to be expert witnesses rather than professionals who were actively involved in the alleged victim's care. The latter must happen a fair bit though. Is anonymity usual?

I took that to be other staff at the CofC who would be giving evidence ?

 

[Tortoise]

11:58am

All potential jurors have declared they can make themselves available to attend the trial for up to the next six months.

12:06pm

Two potential jurors were recognised by members of the prosecution team, so have been taken out of the final jury.
A final jury of 12 members, plus two in reserve, has now been selected.

12:08pm

The 12 jurors are now taking their allocated spaces in the courtroom.

LIVE: Trial of Lucy Letby accused of Countess of Chester Hospital baby murders

 

[cuecard]

I've never thought about this before, but I wonder how that works with reporters who Tweet from the court. Can they disable replies to their tweets?

Yes, you can essentially disable replies to your tweets nowadays so those in court should be able to do that easily if necessary.

 

[JuicyLucy]

All the attempted murder charges, including multiple ones on individuals, feel like a bit of a gamechanger for those of us who have been thinking LL might be the victim of a misinterpretation of problematic statistical data, as they seem to imply evidence of clinical wrongdoing.

BUT

From the Hereford Times:

"She was found not guilty of one further charge of murder in June after no evidence was offered."

Lucy Letby: prosecution opens in Hereford nurse murder trial

A timely reminder that the charges are not in and of themselves necessarily an indication of a great weight of evidence.

 

[JuicyLucy]

I took that to be other staff at the CofC who would be giving evidence ?

Yes, me too, but is it normal for such witnesses to be anonymous?

 

[JosieJo]

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A jury of five men and seven women, plus two reserve jurors of a man and woman, have been selected to try Lucy Letby and are preparing to take the oath

 

[Tortoise]

12:14pm

The 12 (plus two in reserve) are now being formally sworn in as the jury for the Lucy Letby trial.

LIVE: Trial of Lucy Letby accused of Countess of Chester Hospital baby murders

 

[Marantz4250b]

Yes, me too, but is it normal for such witnesses to be anonymous?

It may be that it's related to potentially unintentionally identifying the victims?

 

[Tortoise]

3m ago12:15

Jury being sworn in​

The jury of five men and nine women is now being sworn in.
There are 12 main jury members - four men and eight women - and two reserves.
The full 22 charges are then read to the jury.

Lucy Letby trial - live: Nurse accused of killing seven babies goes on trial

 

[Alyce]

Yes, me too, but is it normal for such witnesses to be anonymous?

It might just be anonymous for media reporting purposes but not anonymous in the courtroom.

 

[Tortoise]

I'll be away for the next hour or so, so I won't be posting updates. JFYI